Fields of Fire 2nd Edition pre-order just arrived. I kept hearing wonderful things about this solitaire game, and how it portrayed company (or was it platoon?) level command quite well.

Also received Techno Bowl last week. It's much like Blood Bowl, but actually more akin to football and has 32 NFL team equivalents (same with some of their historical player names). Has a great neoprene/rubber "mouse pad" playing field, which is rolled up in the box, in this pic.

Still haven't punched or unpacked either yet.

I was able to get the player graphic PDFs, from Techno Bowl's creator, for printing & mounting them on 3/4" wood blocks. The game comes with the above player counters, down markers, etc, and standee attachments for playing with them upright. But the blocks look far better, and more easily readable from a distance since the player's jersey numbers are their main stat.

Any tips for getting good metallic effect on my figures? I bought the Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower and am still on my way to painting it. Any tips for choice of paints, brushes and so?

There are two basic approaches to metallic colors.

Metallic paints, and non-metallic paints.

The metallic paints are the ones with the little metal flakes in it. The shiny ones, reflective ones. They tend to reflect light from wherever it's really coming, but the color often looks homogenous. Not much variation. So applying a darker wash - possibly more than once - is needed to give it a little depth & worn look. It still tends to look a bit flat, IMO, but it will look alright.

The non-metallic ("non metallic metal") way takes far more time. You have to use many layers, dark-to-light, in bringing the shade up towards the high spots of the metallic bits. With a wider range of color contrast, depending on the type of metal. Then, after all those layers, you will still need to take a brighter color (usually something white or near-white) and very lightly do all the reflective edge highlights which are pointing toward your light source.

The edge highlighting can be done for the metallic paint jobs, too, in order to give them a more reflective effect on those edges. But you gotta be careful not to overdo such edge highlights. Especially on the metallic paints.

There are some good videos out there, demonstrating the techniques. But the only way to get good is by doing, as always. I'm far from being an expert, or even good at it, but learning how to do it is the first step.

Using metallic paints is just faster & easier. Although people sometimes use different methods with it, so doesn't hurt to check YT to get some ideas on how to spice it up and keep it from looking too flat.

As for the other method, you can see a quick NMM tutorial in the following. Which will give you an idea how that process goes.

Also, regarding brushes, I'd just recommend starting with a somewhat inexpensive couple of detailing round brush sets (multiples between sizes 10/0 and 2). That should help you figure out which sizes you prefer, and get used to them.

But when you want to move up to a good one, at some point, at least get a #2 Round Winsor & Newton Series 7 sable brush. Also probably a #0 or #00 for fine detailing.

You'll also want to get a jar of brush cleaner, which is like shampoo/conditioner, for your brushes, which will allow them to last longer. At over $10 a pop for the Series 7s, it comes in handy. I even use it for my cheaper favored synthetic brushes. ~~>~~>

I still pick up small synthetic detailing brush sets. Since finding such a small brush which retains a cohesively fine tip can be a crap shoot. I can't tell how well they'll retain their point until after using one and seeing how it holds it's shape afterward. Some are much better than others, even of the same make & brand. And those really fine-tipped ones tend to get worn out faster anyway, having fewer bristles.

Thanks! Soon going to start and expecting this work with 40+ figures to take quite a while to finish, especially if I have to fix things.

I highly recommend you watch some painting tip vids on YouTube before beginning.

You'll end up using such tips as a good basis to build your own preference & style upon. They were really helpful for me when I started painting minis.

There are many of them to be found. Watch a few different peoples' methods & suggestions to get a well-rounded intro.

I watched a couple by GW. It was funny as hell, with them trying to convince you to buy 90 paint pallet from them to paint a single figure.

I know they know that you can just make a different tint of blue by mixing colors. But then how are they going to sell you 15 bottles that you each use for a single detail. Separate color for the tip of the sword and the like.

I highly recommend you watch some painting tip vids on YouTube before beginning.

You'll end up using such tips as a good basis to build your own preference & style upon. They were really helpful for me when I started painting minis.

There are many of them to be found. Watch a few different peoples' methods & suggestions to get a well-rounded intro.

I watched a couple by GW. It was funny as hell, with them trying to convince you to buy 90 paint pallet from them to paint a single figure.

I know they know that you can just make a different tint of blue by mixing colors. But then how are they going to sell you 15 bottles that you each use for a single detail. Separate color for the tip of the sword and the like.

Don't bother with GW paints. They're overpriced and the paint pots are a pain in the ass.

Get a set from a company like Vallejo. Or maybe Army Painter if you want more bang for your buck. Or Privateer Press (P3), perhaps.

I use mostly Vallejo. Although I do also have a couple select Washes from GW, just because the pigments are supposedly a bit thinner in their thinned-down washes. But the Vallejo stuff works great.. probably better than GW in most cases, and that's a pretty common opinion in the hobby.

Plus.. the Vallejo and Army Painter "dropper" style bottles are far more convenient. Easy to control how much paint you're putting on your palette, and there is far less paint getting gunked around the lid opening.

I hope this one gets a Tabletop Simulator version. Their previous ones in the series (1775 Rebellion, 1754 Conquest, etc) are in the Steam Workshop. They're intermediate strategy games. Like a card-driven Risk on steroids; good enough to entertain both casual players and grogs.

Some brilliant game design in this. I had forgotten I picked up the core game for awhile. Happened upon it under a stack of games and pulled it out a few months ago. It's back on the learnin' menu.

It looks intimidating at first, but they really did an amazing job of funneling down the physics and such into nomographs, a flowchart worksheet, and the 'PHAD'. It kinda forces you to examine the situation and make a tactical decision without factoring much of the rules in it up front, which is nice. Still not for just anyone, obviously.

I've been curious as to how the automated Soviet opponent pilots/aircraft operate in the Fighter Sweep expansion. Able to play it solitaire against a few types of Sov aircraft. It's definitely high on my wish list.

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